Why Alex Ovechkin & the Washington Capitals can REPEAT THE MAGIC of last season in 2025-26

Why Alex Ovechkin & the Washington Capitals can REPEAT THE MAGIC of last season in 2025-26

The Metro Division figures to be an absolute battle in 2025 2026. We’ve got hosts from all over the division to break down this division. This is the Locked On podcast network’s 2025 NHL season preview. Your team every day. All right, welcome hockey fans, locked on fans to a very special Metro Division roundt discussion here. Like we were just saying, we’ve got divisions representing several teams from across the metro. We’ve got myself John chick with locked on New York Rangers. I am joined by my good friends Zack Martin from Locked on Canes, Dan Homie from Locked On Caps, and Alex Weider Spiel from Locked on Devils. And definitely looking forward to talking to all you guys about what’s going to go on this season in the Metro Division. And wanted to go ahead and start with uh the good things, the positive stuff, reasons for optimism for all of these teams. So, wanted to go ahead and just kind of throw it out there to you guys. What do you think is the biggest reason for optimism um you know for your team this upcoming season? We can go ahead. Alex is new here. We’ll let him uh kind of hit the ground running uh with locked on Devils there. Oh, I appreciate it, John. Uh I think the biggest reason for optimism for the Devils uh is the depth is much better this year. I think if you look from top to bottom and and you look at the way they played last year for Shelton Keefe, uh a lot of their numbers, uh especially the the per 60 numbers as a team, like they kind of built on the promise they showed that one year they made the playoffs, uh under Lindy Ruff, they really built on the promise of what they could do defensively. I think most Ranger fans remember how they shut down the Rangers uh in the uh back half of that series, ultimately winning it in seven. That’s kind of how they looked a lot of last season. And so I there are some areas for concern, but if I’m, you know, if I’m a Devil fan going into the season, I’m awfully optimistic at the start of it at least. All right, sounds good. And uh, Zack, uh, same question to you, man. Reasons for optimism, uh, for the Canes who have been knocking on the door and, uh, this could be the year that they kick it down. What do you got for us? Yeah, of course. I think when you look at the Carolina Hurricanes, you get your top six, you know, kind of winger, scoring winger that you really need and Nikolai Eers, that is a help. But then you look at the defense, you go younger and faster with Na Galaxier and Nikesha in his first full season. See how that goes. And you also got Kandre Miller as well that a lot of people think could have a potential Brady Shay 2.0 run that he saw when he went over from the Rangers to the Carolina Hurricanes. And now you you know if you you running the tandem back of Anderson to go check off and if everyone stays healthy there you could be in a good spot. So, for the Carolina Hurricanes, they got younger, they got faster on the blue line, and they added some top six help to their scoring, and you’re just looking at a team that as as of right now, looks like one of the favorites to win the Metro Division this season. Absolutely. And Dan, uh, speaking of winning the Metro Division, that’s something that you know all about from this past year. The Capital is surprising, you know, at least some of us, I think, with uh, you know, finishing on top of the Metro this past season. But, uh, what are you thinking this year? reasons for optimism and uh can they repeat as division champions? I think they can and reasons to be optimistic. Well, let’s take a look at it. Alex Ovetkin uh who we know cotton passed Gretzky was a big part in the Capital success last season uh is entering into what could be his final season uh his final season under contract. And then the Capitals are doing something different this year than we haven’t seen them do in a long time and that’s leaning into the youth. Uh, I expect players like Ryan Leonard who had back-to-back 30 goal seasons for Boston College uh to help elevate this team. And you have other young talent that’s vying for jobs. I’m talking Andrew Crystal uh who absolutely torched it uh for Spokane. And you know, you just take a look at the players. There weren’t a lot of players added. I’m going to be honest with you. They added Justin Sordiff. Uh they added Declan Chisum. So, I guess what I would do is I would concentrate more on the the great um extensions that were made. You saw that in the form of Jacob Chron getting an extension. Um you saw that with other key players on the team that are going to be a part of the secret sauce uh of this team. But all things considered, I expect the Capitals to at least maintain or take a step forward. Again, a lot of this is going to ride on the youth of this team. Um it’ll be interesting uh to see how it all shakes out. Absolutely. And as for the Rangers, you know, I think reasons for optimism. It’s very easy to forget this. And granted, the team has uh changed quite a bit in the time between two seasons ago and now, but this team is just two years removed from winning the President’s Trophy and being in the Eastern Conference final and being two wins away from the Stanley Cup final. And you know, a lot of the more important pieces from that team are still here. And then this offseason, we’ll get into this a little bit more when we talk about the big additions to all these teams, but you add Vlados Gabriov, you know, one of the more coveted defenseman on the market. And I just get the feeling we’re kind of in a situation where as a Ranger fan, the truth kind of lies between the two extremes. Maybe they weren’t quite as good as they were two years ago, but I don’t think they were as bad as they were last year. And even in a season last year where everybody had a down season, everybody took a step back and the vibes were pretty much off from opening night until the end of uh that sad sorry season last year, uh they still ended up, you know, in playoff contention. They were still at least in the mix. So I think, you know, they’re in a better spot. JT Miller’s been named the captain now. I think that gives them kind of a new direction. And Mike Sullivan coming in, I I think he’s obviously a proven winner. And, you know, they’re trying to catch lightning in a bottle the same way that the Penguins did with Sullivan uh when he first took the helm there. So certainly uh reasons for optimism in Rainderland as well. And uh we want to go ahead and and move things forward. I’m going to share on screen, those of you watching on YouTube, a graphic that has the over and under for all four of these teams as far as their point totals for this upcoming season. And as you can see, if you’re on audio, we’ll talk you through it. The Hurricanes are set at over under 106.5 points this season. This is of course courtesy of FanDuel. And the Devils are at 100.5. The Rangers are at 95.5. The Capitals 2 are at 95.5. So, what we can do now, we can go in the same order. We’ll start with Alex uh from Blocked on Devils. And uh Alex, I mean, the Devils set at 100 and a half points there. Over or under, man, what are you thinking uh for the Devils this season? Are they going to eclipse that or will they fall a little bit short? It’s a brutal It’s a brutal line. And I it’s not one that I would I would probably want to bet on if I if I could make the choice here because that is about as close as I think it’s it’s going to get. Uh I’m going to a slight under is where I would go with that. My my chief concern is that you look at Jack Hughes’s injury history. Uh he’s likely he’s going to miss time even if he doesn’t suffer a catastrophic shoulder injury again, which he’s done by the way a couple years in a row now. even if he doesn’t suffer a catastrophic shoulder injury, his playing style, his size, he’s probably not going to give you a full 82 to begin with. That’s number one. And while I I certainly like the addition of Cody Glass, and it’s it’s one of the things that I’m going to talk about a little bit later. I think that gives them some depth down the middle, that’s not a guy that you’re going to feel comfortable with in extended stretches in the top six. So knowing about the injury history, knowing that there’s some age down into that bottom six that I think will help you in the playoffs, but may not be as useful during the regular season. I’m leaning right now on under for these Devils, but I don’t think it’ll be by much. I think they’re going to comfortably be in the playoffs, but I have a hard time picking them to go over that 100.5 mark. Gotcha. And we’ll take one more look here. We got to refresh everybody’s memory. So we’ll move along to Zack. and Zack. I mean, that’s a big total for the for the Hurricanes. 106.5 currently uh favored to win the division, at least for for FanDuel here. Uh but, you know, they have a heck of a team. So, what do you think? Uh over or under this year for the Canes, 106.5. Yeah, I I kind of think it might be the over, honestly, because you look at the team last year, they did finish with 99 points. And of course, if they, you know, they wrestled a lot of guys for the last nine games of the regular season. So, if you, you know, win a couple more games there, you’re over 100 points once again. So over getting over a 100 at least is definitely in the cards for the Hurricanes. I would say you’re probably looking at maybe 109 is probably maybe 110 could be the ceiling for this team, but if you’re talking about 106 and a half, I can at least see them hitting 107 at the minimum and could be closer to 110. So I think with the fact where the Hurricanes are at right now and just how deep this team is on the forwards and on the blue line, you know, as long as they said as everyone stays healthy and kind of just do what you can and you see some guys take next steps in their careers this year. You look at Logan Stokov and Jackson Blick. Those guys are coming into their, you know, different aspects of their seasons with the Kings. You hope Andre Fetchikov carries his momentum from the playoffs over into the regular season. Of course, with the addition of Eers along with, you know, putting them with Aaho and Jarvis on the first line and on the first power play. I could see this team really taking off and putting themselves in a good spot to hit that over of 106 and a half and maybe fight for a number one seed in the East and maybe even fighting for a president’s trophy if everything falls into place for them. So, I see this team, you know, hitting the over. Sounds good. And, uh, Dan, your Capitals, my Rangers, both at 95 and a half points for this upcoming season. What are you thinking? Uh, do the Capitals eclipse that number or do they fall short? I’m going to take the over on that one. Last season, the Capitals finished with 111 points. Now, listen, I don’t think that they will finish with that many points. Um, but there were no major subtractions to this team that some people always talk about, you know, can they can the Capitals duplicate the success that they had last year. If you kind of want to widen the lens, take a 30,000 foot view of this team. Two seasons ago, they were the last team to qualify. Last season, they were the first. So, I’m not going to write the team off. Uh, my projection for them is 103 points. Sounds good. And as for the Rangers, I’m also going to take the over. We’ve got a group of optimists here. Everybody going over. Uh 95 and a half points for the Rangers feels doable. Uh something that’s working in their favor right now that uh I think could certainly come into play is this is a team that always seems to respond well when it gets a new head coach. And granted, again, the roster has changed at least a little bit like every roster in the NHL has over the past couple of years, but you know, you’re talking about a couple of seasons where uh they massively overachieved in the first year that they had a new head coach. And obviously, they’re going to have the same chance here to do the same thing with Sullivan. Before that, it was Peter Lavlet. Before that, that it was Jar Galant. They always seem to get a little bit of a boost from that. And um you know, Sullivan again, he’s a proven winner. I know things haven’t gone well the last few years with Pittsburgh, but I mean their prospect pool is uh pretty thin to say the least. And uh Sullivan comes in here. It’s a fresh start for him as well. There’s a good mix of veterans and young players that are coming along very nicely. And I’m going to go with the over. I mean I I got to be optimistic at this point in the season. And uh we we’ll see what happens. I don’t know if all four of these teams are going to be over when it’s all said and done, but uh we we’ll see how it all shakes out for sure. But um we’re going to keep everything rolling. In just a second, we’re going to shift our attention to key offseason additions for each team. We touched on that a little bit in this first section here, but we’ll do a little bit of a deeper dive uh in the next segment. All right, we just want to take a minute to let everybody know that today’s very special roundt edition is brought to you by Monarch Money. Most people cannot name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there is Monarch Money. It is an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or on your phone. 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Alex, man, uh what’s the big like offseason move, the big pickup for the Devils that you’re excited about? Yeah, I think most would say Connor Brown, and I I certainly agree that it’s uh it’s it adds potential scoring depth if he finds the player he was as he started to get healthier last season. Certainly not the guy he was immediately coming out of missing uh almost what, a year and a half of of time skating. But, uh, Cody Glass, who they acquired at the trade deadline, I actually think is is really, uh, retaining him is is is kind of the big things, and I I alluded to this before that the Devils have two issues in my mind. The first is the the center depth when Hughes is out, and the second issue is getting Dawson Mercer off of center and onto the wing. I think it’s hard not to watch Mercer and think that there is a ton of offensive talent there. He has shown it in spurts. He has shown it in flashes. And he’s shown it at times in the playoffs. I think the issue is when he’s playing center. I mean, I think you guys know as well as anyone else. That’s a lot more defensive responsibility on the ice. And I I I think that’s been a problem for him, particularly in the 3C role, uh, where where Mercer has played when he’s been called upon to be the center because you’re not going to take away minutes from Hughes and Heir. So, to me, that addition of glass allows Mercer to potentially play up in the top six, play with either Hughes or Heeshir. But I think that’s a much better fit uh depthwise for the Devils really. I think that the puzzle pieces fit better uh that way. And so I’m going with Cody Glass as the best and potentially most important addition of the offseason. Even though I’m cheating a little bit, it happened at the trade deadline last year. All good. Uh we’ll move along to Zack. Zack, what do you got for us? Biggest pickup of the offseason for the Carolina Hurricanes. Yeah, I mean kind of already alluded to it a little bit, but you’re looking at Nikolai Eer, someone that, like I said, the Hurricanes really have needed for a while as that top six scoring winger. You know, almost a point per game guy last year when you look at what he’s done, you played 69 games, had 64 points, you know, and you look at a guy who’s now getting the opportunity to be the guy that he’s always wanted to be because with the Jets, he was mainly, you know, second line, second power play. Now he’s top line, top power play. So he’s going to get that bump from being 1548 of average ice time to probably 17 18 minutes a night. So the Hurricanes are going to really lean on him to kind of lead the way for the most part, especially with that top line of Aaho and Jarvis. So there’s a lot of excitement there just to see what he can do and as long as he stays healthy, I think that’s going to be a big key for the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s a nice good six-year deal at eight and a half. That’s not bad for a guy that a lot of people were kind of looking at as probably one of the big free agents to get, especially after, you know, Mitch Mner got signed and traded, you know, the day before free agency. So, Aers was that next guy. And then, you know, talk about Kandre Miller. John, I know me and you talked about during the off season after it was done with that trade. But you look at a guy who’s probably one of the more physical guys on the Carolina Hurricanes, 100 hit over 100 hits last year, 100 block shots, someone who’s going to add a lot, you know, speed to defensive bloom like cuz he he’s very quick like his feet are moving. You know, he makes it almost seem seamless for what he can do. So, I think you add his youth at 25 and you’re going to, you know, if you pair him with Jaylen Chaffel, you’re going to have two guys that are going to be very fast together and find a way to be offensively minded, but also play some good defense as well. And I think if he, you know, fits into the structure that, you know, the Hurricanes run with Tim Gleason as their defensive coach and of course it helps too when you got Jacob Slavven on that group as well, you know, kind of teaching, you know, leading you the way in terms of how the Hurricanes run their defensive system. I think just adding those two alone puts the Hurricanes in a very good spot of where they can just, you know, make that run and hopefully, you know, get a division title, you know, get another deep playoff run because this would be like their eighth consecutive time going to the playoffs if all things go well and hopefully, you know, make another run to the conference final. Sounds good. And uh Dan, who you got for us the uh the biggest pickup, the biggest addition for the Washington Capitals this offseason? Oh, uh wait, let me think about that. Um Justin Sordiff and Declan Chisum. Okay, everyone hold back. Wow, this team is just rocketing to the moon. Um the Capitals were all in on the Nikolai Eer sweep stakes and guess what? Swing and a miss. So uh the Capitals are doing something that they haven’t done in quite some time. They’re leaning into the youth, which I spoke about earlier. And uh to be clear here, I’m happy about it. You know, the Capitals have had reluctance about going in a young direction. always wanted to go with the sure thing and that was you know with Peter Lavlet here before he wanted the sure thing. Well, Spencer Carberry came here and ushered in a new wave of bringing along the youth. He has that rapport. Uh he coached some of them in Hershey and has the the history there. Um so it’s going to be it’s going to be uh Justin Sord who is going to be playing on the fourth line ostensibly for the Capitals and Declan Chisum who is going to be the extra. Wow, we’re talking about extras. Um but that is what I expect. I expect the youth to take a step forward um in the form of Leonard, Crystal, Maros Nashenko, those kind of guys. And um I guess if I’m going to talk about additions, they’re not really additions, but extensions. I’m going to talk about the extension of Nick Dow, Jacob Cherin, Martin Farerraari, and Logan Thompson. Big pieces uh part of the secret sauce of the Capitals last season. We’re hoping that they can do a similar thing, if not better, next season. Sounds good. And uh as for the Rangers, uh I’m going to go ahead and go with uh I would say for sure Vladislav Gabriov, there’s obviously a couple of other, you know, complimentary pieces that they brought in. Taylor Radish, you know, Dan, we talked about him a little bit in the offseason and Zack obviously we talked about the big Keandre Miller trade that also entailed the Rangers getting Scott Morrow, who looked very good in the rookie series against the Flyers and I think had a solid preseason opener against the Devils. But for me, it’s Vlados Gabriov. is not necessarily uh the flashiest or more exciting most exciting free agent class that we’ve ever seen. And when you think of somebody like Gabricov, it doesn’t really catch your attention all that much if you’re just a, you know, a fan of hockey, not necessarily a Ranger fan, and you’re not watching what the Rangers are doing that closely. But Gabricov is everything that the Rangers need right now. The Raider defenseman were an absolute train wreck last season. Just very inconsistent. uh really struggle to defend the rush, def struggle to defend the front of the net. Struggled pretty much any way you can. And you bring in somebody like Gabriov and he excels at all those things. You he defends the blue line very well. He’ll clear guys away from the front of the net. Again, not the flashiest players. He’s got a little bit of offense to his game, but somebody that’s going to come in most likely play with Adam Fox on the top pairing. And the Rangers are in a situation where three of their top four defenseman at the start of last season are gone. Trouba is gone, Lingren is gone, and Kandre Miller is gone. So, they had to basically revamp the blue line and I feel like Gabricoff was always their big target in free agency. They went after him full force. They got him. He’s a Ranger and uh he’s going to play a very, very important role for this team this season. And I think a breath of fresh air because he is so consistent and is so steady back there. But another question for everybody as we move along here, breakout candidates, one of my personal favorite questions when we do, you know, these roundts like this. Uh and again, we’ll start with Alex. Who’s somebody maybe a little bit under the radar for the Devils that you think has a chance to, you know, really get to the next level, really break out this upcoming season? Yeah, it’s it’s tough because I don’t think the Devils have like a a ton of drama when it comes to the ability for young players to to have a shot at breaking out. Uh if if you want to go, I think by the chalk, it’s going to be either Simone Ne or Sheamus Casey. And uh right now there’s actually it looks like there’s going to be room for both of them and the on the Devils blue line with the injury news to to Jonathan Kovase to start the season. So uh there’s going to be room for both of them. Sheamus Casey put up some actually pretty decent numbers in limited action particularly when you look at some of the more advanced metrics that you get from like natural. Um Simone Neich on the other hand the numbers weren’t great last year but this is still a couple of things worth remembering about the player. former second overall pick. Obviously, at a certain point, that stops meaning something. But when we’re talking about defenseman, uh we know that they take a little bit longer to progress compared to forwards. Uh Simone Neich has not always had a clear path to the NHL and it looks like with the injury to Kovich, uh he should have a pretty clear opportunity to at least playing some third pair of minutes and and that’s potentially very big for the Devils. I mean, we we know this one of the easiest ways to to kind of rack up points if you’ve got the goalending and you’ve got the blue line working. Uh those are those are pretty pretty big indicators of where you could potentially go uh both in the short term and the long term. So, I I’m going to go with Nemits even though the numbers were not great during the regular season. I think he was outscored uh basically 2 to1 when he was on the ice uh in the playoffs a little bit better. In fact, did not allow a goal in 68 minutes of ice time. So, I’m going with Nemitz. And uh he came up big in in some of the biggest moments last year in that series against Carolina even as the Devils were uh struggling deeply overmatched. Sounds good. And uh Zach, what do you got for us in terms of a breakout candidate with the Kings? Who’s the guy that’s going to reach that next level for you guys this upcoming season? Yeah, I think a lot of people would probably look to like a guy like Alexander Nishan, you know, coming from the KHL. And while I do agree that he would be someone to look at, I still think for the fact that this is his first year, I kind of want to see what he does in his first full season in North America before I say he’s a breakout guy. I think he’ll do well, but I think if there’s someone to look at to take that next step for the Carolina Hurricanes, it’s actually Jackson Blake. 17 goals, 34 points last year, top 10 in both goals and in points for all rookies last year. I think a guy that was, you know, not really talked about enough. I don’t think he would ever made a finalist for the Calder, but I think he was an under the radar guy in terms of a rookie season overall. Hobie Baker finalist with North Dakota. And, you know, I actually got to sit one-on-one with him on Monday after, you know, after the morning skate. And for him, it’s, you know, last year was about trying to make the team because he didn’t know if he was going to make it. Now, this upcoming season, he just signs his contract extension. He’s with the Canes for the next nine seasons, including this last year of his ELC. And for him, it’s just trying to get better every day. And I think he has that mindset now of like I don’t got to worry about trying to make the team now. It’s just trying to get better. And I think he’s a guy that’s potentially poised to have a 50 plus point season for the Carolina Hurricanes. And as of right now, he looks to fit in the top six along with possibly Logan Stinkov as the second line center and Andre Spetchikov. And if they don’t put Stanco in there and if Blake stays in the top six with Spetch on the other side, I think the Hurricanes are in a good spot. I think for Jackson Blake, this could be a potential 50 plus point season for him, which would be great after, you know, going through, you know, his first first pro season after playing in college. And I think he he knows what to expect and knows what to do next. Now he has that sense of I don’t really got to worry about, you know, making the team. I have my spot now. It’s just taking it to the next level. I think Jackson Blake is someone to keep an eye on for the Hurricanes this season. All right. And Dan, who you got for the Caps? Who’s your uh breakout candidate for for Washington this season? I’m going to go ahead and say I think it’s going to be Conor Mcichael. Now, this guy’s been in the league for a while, but he took a huge step forward for the Capitals this last season. 26 goals, 31 assists the season before, 18 goals and 15 assists and then uh much less in the in the seasons before that. And why it could be a huge season for him is that he is going to get the first kick at the can, if you will, at that third line center position. The third line generally was the biggest weakness for the Capitals, but more specifically the third line center position. Uh we know that the Capitals had Lars Eller last season as a bit of a band-aid, which didn’t work out. And the Capitals want to go into this season looking at the third line, I think, as a strength, not as a weakness. uh that if you take a look at the Caps first, second, and fourth line, it’s pretty much all killer and no filler. They want to get rid of that on the third line where they have a truly dynamic third line uh that can can pull its own weight just like the other line. So, look for Conor Mcichael to get the first look at that uh third line center position, but if not, he can continue to knock it out of the park at the second line left wing position. Sounds good. And for the Rangers, I’ll give a quick honorable mention to Brett Bard, a former fifth round pick and somebody who I think is going to fit in very nicely in Mike Sullivan’s system. He may not necessarily make the Rangers out of training camp. He might start in the AHL, but I think if and when he’s on the Ranger roster, uh he’s going to be a solid player. Plays a a physical straight line style of game that the Rangers are trying to get to. But my pick is going to be Will And in a way, you could make the argument that he somewhat already broke out this past season with 20 goals and 25 assists while playing almost exclusively in a bottom six role. Now coming into this season, Mike Sullivan has been raving about him. It’s a very, very good chance to start this year. He will be in a top six role. I think he’s certainly going to see an uptick in ice time in general, certainly power play time as well. And he’s somebody that’s an absolute wrecking ball out there. 301 hits this past season. He goes out there and hits everything that moves. Uh somebody that when the Rangers draft drafted him in the second round a few years ago, to me was something of a floor pick. You know, this is somebody that’s going to come in and be a solid middle sixer for you. I’m beginning to think that the sky might be the limit for Will I think if the Rangers eventually lock him up long term, he’s somebody that will eventually wear a letter for this team as well. He’s everything that you want in a long in a in a young player and I just feel like his role is certainly going to expand this upcoming season and that he very well uh could be a favorite of Mike Sullivan. So, I got to go with Will uh for this upcoming season. But, in just a minute, we’re going to keep everything rolling. We’re going to talk about what’s at stake for all these teams this upcoming season. You know, whose job could be on the line, etc., etc. We’ll get to all that good stuff in just a second. All right, so we’re sort of now going to look at I’m going to say worst case scenarios for these team. You know, what’s at stake this season, which player has a lot riding on this upcoming season, what essentially will happen if things go south, if if things were to fall apart for any of these teams. And we’ll start uh once again with Alex for the Devils. I mean, who’s kind of like is anybody’s job on the line or is any player kind of uh skating on thin ice, so to speak, for this upcoming season? Uh, what do you got for us there? You know, I it’s a good question. It’s a tough question with the Devils because I I I part of the challenge is let’s take a player like Douggee Hamilton for example, who’s making 9 million against the cap. Like I think Douggee Hamilton’s a really good player and he’s been really good. I think when you look at the likely scenario that there’s going to be a Luke Hughes contract at some point before the season starts, you we talked about Neich and Casey already. There’s a squeeze coming on the Devil’s Blue line and they’ve they’ve locked up some of those uh kind of mid-tier and depth pieces as well to longerterm contracts. So, I do think with Douggee Hamilton’s no movement full no movement clause dropping now to a 10 team no trade uh starting this season. So, actually went into effect in July. I do think that there’s a little bit of pressure on him to prove that he is worth that full $9 million. The other guy, I think you have to talk a little bit about Tom Fitzgerald and I think there have been a couple of moments for the general manager of the Devils that have not played super well for him. I I was surprised that the Devils didn’t go harder at the trade line last year to try and uh find an adequate replacement for Jack Hughes. Uh this is not a team that really needs to cling to assets anymore. And I think draft picks don’t really do a lot of good for a team like the Devils. Uh the other element of that, you know, a couple of years ago, he really didn’t do much to address the goalender position as the season was kind of falling apart around uh them in the final year of Lindy Ruff. So I do think there have been some some black marks that have risen against Fitzgerald. And if they go another year where it’s one and done in the playoffs, that will also tie into his head coaching cad head coaching decision of hiring Sheldon Keefe, a guy who has very limited success in terms of actually winning playoff series. So I don’t think that the the seat is hot, but I would say maybe someone just turned the burner on a little bit on a low level. So we we could see some stuff as the season develops. particularly if if the Devils can’t get out of the first round, I would have some concerns about uh Fitzgerald and maybe not Keith, but Fitzgerald, I think you could ask some questions about. Sounds good. And Zack, you know, if things were to go south for the Canes and they were to fall short of expectations, uh what happens then? What what’s kind of on the line this season for the Carolina Hurricanes? Yeah, I think for the fact for the Carolina Hurricanes, I don’t really see any anyone really on the hot seat for the team. I mean, you have Eric Tolski going to his second season as the Hurricanes GM. And from what you’ve seen, you know, he’s, you know, found some, you know, ways to make contracts work, you know, with some deferral payments to Slavven and Jarvis and even Jackson Blake and signed Logan Stanco to a very great deal even for Blake as well. And you know, I don’t think the Hurricanes will ever move on from a guy who, you know, so far has made some swings and try and make this team better, you know, every month and, you know, that he’s been in the role so far. And like I said, it’s his second year as a GM. I don’t think the Hurricanes will move on that fast if somehow everything just kind of went sideways on him. And the same thing for Rod Brenmore. Like Rod Brenndeore has taken this team to seven consecutive playoff appearances, their longest stretch of doing so. because before he took over, they made the playoffs five times before he took over in 2018 and you’re expanding back to 1997. So that really says something. So even if it goes sideways, no one’s really losing their job. It’s just one of those weird things that, you know, it’s it’s unforeseen circumstances that, you know, maybe just didn’t work out for the Hurricanes if they fell apart. Sounds good. And Dan, uh, who you got for us? like if things were to go south and it just isn’t the Capital season, you know, what are the consequences there for for the franchise at that point? Well, listen, I think that Chris Patrick’s job is secure. I think Spencer Carber’s is as well. I don’t think that they would uh fire either one of them if if the Capital season didn’t go according to plan. I do think, however, if things do go off the rails, uh what I spoke about earlier in the show is the Capitals leaning into the youth. That’s all fine and good, but what if that doesn’t work? Uh, that’s great that you killed it in the juniors. That’s great that you killed it at Boston College. It doesn’t always translate to the National Hockey League. So, if it hits the fan, I think it’s not going to be a GM or a coach that’s let go. I think that the GM is going to be calling other teams in earnest trying to bring in a veteran um to help lift this team and and salvage the season. I hate to say salvage the season, but you know, when you put a lot of faith into a young group of players, and there’s not a lot of them, but we’re asking them to fill some holes. If they don’t live up to expectation, then you got to fill those gaps. So, kind of a a tight rope for the Capitals to walk this season. It’s great that you’re leaning into the youth, but if it doesn’t work, well, that can go sideways in a hurry. Sounds good. And for the Raiders, I’m going to say our Tenny Paneran, even right now before the season actually begins, I think a lot of eyes are on Paneran. There’s a lot of intrigue surrounding Artame Paneran. And the reason for that is very simple. He is now somehow some way in the final year of the seven-year contract that he signed in free agency 6 years ago. So, it could really go one of about a million different ways. I think that how the Rangers play this season is obviously going to influence it at least a little bit. uh Paneran does have the full no move clause, but a question that’s been raised, you know, if the Rangers are are struggling again this season and everything’s falling apart and we get to the trade deadline, at that point, would Paneran be willing to wave the no move clause? And at that point, I think if you’re the Rangers, you would have to make that move because, you know, without knowing exactly who’s going to be available at the deadline, he’s certainly going to be one of the the bigger fish in the pond, so to speak. And look, I mean, Raider fans are divided right now. You’ve got certain fans that uh they’re they’re flabbergasted. they can’t understand why Paneran has not already been extended. And then there’s Ranger fans that want to move on and they want to go in a different direction and they actually uh would trade Paneran if the situation presented itself. I’m in a little bit more of kind of like a wait and see mode right now because I do think the Rangers are going to try to go big game hunting for some of those big free agents that could be available uh next year in the off season. So I almost kind of see Paneran as like a little bit of the backup plan. If you can’t get a McDavid or a Capri off or an EL or a Kempe, then maybe Paneran, you know, keeping him around, maybe that makes some sense for you at that point. But it’s a really fascinating storyline to watch because I think it certainly uh could go one of about a million different ways for Artame Paneran as far as, you know, the future, what the future holds for Paneran uh with the New York Rangers. But um yeah, I figure we can pretty much call it there, guys. This is a pleasure as always. Always good, uh talking hockey with all of you. and Alex obviously, you know, welcome to the team here. It’s great to see you uh representing the Devils here on lockdown New Jersey Devils and it’s going to be a lot of fun. You know, the the Metro is always a dog fight and I don’t think anything is going to be any different uh for this upcoming season. So, anybody want to add anything before we call it here? I’m good. All right. So, Ranger fans, Devils fans, Kane’s fans, Caps fans, thank you guys as always for tuning in and we will see you next time.

Can the Washington Capitals repeat their magical 2024-25 NHL season that saw them top the Eastern Conference? Can the New York Rangers bounce back from a terrible season? Will this FINALLY be the year the Carolina Hurricanes make it back to the Stanley Cup Final? And can the New Jersey Devils just stay healthy? Today in the Locked On NHL Metro Contenders Season Preview Special, Jon Chik (Locked On Rangers), Alex Wiederspiel (Locked On NHL Game Night/Devils), Zach Martin (Locked On Hurricanes) and Dan Holmi (Locked On Capitals) team up to preview the season for the Metro Division’s heavy hitters. They discuss the Hurricanes’ major addition of Nikolaj Ehlers, whether Alex Ovechkin can keep defying age, whether a healthy Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton can return the Devils to contention, and the Rangers’ attempt to climb back into the playoffs under the leadership of new captain JT Miller. They predict whether each team will go over or under their FanDuel points projections, discuss reasons for optimism, the stakes at play for each team if things don’t go well this year, major offseason transactions, breakout candidates and more!

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